Safety connecter for well works



Original Fiied Oct. 11, 1923 (Ema? 0 5 g;

Patented Jan. 13, 1925.

' JAMES P. RATIGAN, OF LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA.

SAFETY CONNECTER FOR WELL WORKS.

Application filed October 11, 1923, Serial No. 667,817. Renewed October 29, 1924.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, JAMES P. RATIGAN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Huntington Park. in the county of Los Angeles and State of California, have invented a new and useful Safety Connecter for Tell Works, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to safety conneeters for well works and pertains more particularly to that type of connecter used for connecting the draw works tackle to the tool that is to be handled.

An object of the invention is to insure against the tool that is being handled becoming accidentally detached from the connecter.

Another object is to facilitate guiding of the connecter into position for engaging and disengaging a tool and operation of the latch at the same time. The advantage of this will be more readily understood from knowledge of the fact that oil well tools of this character are quite heavy and cumbersome to operate and, if the latch should accidentally open when it should remain closed, or if the tool is not properly directed when it is to be engaged or disengaged from the tool that is to be handled, injury may result to the operator.

Another object is to guard the latch handle against injury which, as it must project from the connecter body, is very apt to receive heavy shocks since the eonnecter, as mentioned above, is relatively massive and is often dropped upon or knocked against another object.

A further object is to facilitate attaching the connecter to and detaching the connecter from the tackle by which it is suspended.

The accompanying drawings illustrate the invention Figure 1 is a side elevation, partly in section, of a safety connecter embodying the invention.

Fig. 2 is an edge view of the connecter from the right of Figure 1.

There is provided a slotted body 3 of any suitable shape, the slot being indicated at 1 and being curved. In this particular instance. the body 3 forms a hook tapering from the heel 51 to the tip 5. The slot 4t, in this instance, constitutes the eye of the hook. The body 3 is provided substantially in line with the tip with a chamber 6 through which extends a latch comprising a wedge-shape head 7 and a stem 8 of circular cross section. The head 7 is angular 1n cross section, as is also the chamber (5 so that the head cannot rotate on its axis. lVithin the chamber 6 and surrounding the stem 8 is a coil spring 9 bearing at one end against the body 3 and at its opposite end against the inner face of the head '7 so as to tend to hold the latch head 7 projecting into the space between the heel 51 and tip 5 and extending. substantially across said slot tothe tip. The stem 8 extends to the rear faceof the heel 51. In hooking the connecter into the eye of a tool that is to be handled, the ring of metal forming the eye of said tool will bear against the slanting face 10 of the head 7 and cause the head to be retracted against the pressure of the spring 9. The slant of the face 10 is downwardly toward the tip 5.

In order to retract the latch so as to open the slot at when, for example, it is desired to detach the connecter from the eye of the tool that is engaged by the hook, the stem 8 S is provided with a suitable handle, said handle, in this instance, being in the form of a slotted grip 11, the outer wall 12 of the finger slot 13 of the grip being arcuate and the ends of said wall being adjacent to the body 3. The inner wall 1% of the finger slot 13, when the latch is closed, normally seats in a groove 15 in the outer face of the body 8. This in itself provides some protection for the grip, but the grip is further protected, especially at. its ends, by lugs 16, 17 positioned at the opposite ends of the groove 15.

A suspension is provided for the body 3. said suspension, in this instance, being of the swivel type and constructed as follows: The body 3 forms at one end a reduced stud 1S terminated at its lower end by a shoulder 19 that seats against the under face of a cross bar 20 provided with a hole 21 through which the stud 18 projects. The upper end of the stud 18 is provided with a head which may be a nut screw-threaded on said stud. Between the nut 22 and cross bar 20 is a bearing 23 which, in this particular instance, is of the ball type.

Projecting upwardly from one end of the bar 20 is a hook 2+1 to the upper end of which is pivoted, by a pin 25, a swinging arm 26 adapted to close the opening between the upper end of the hook and the bar 20. The arm 26 is provided with a lll) slot 27 at its lower end which receives one end of the bar 20, and the 'arm 26 is held in closed position by a pin 28 which extends through holes 29 in the arm 26 and through a hole 30 in the bar 20. The pin 28 may be removably held in position by a head 31 on one end of the pin at one side of the arm 26 and'by a cutter pin 32 extending through the pin 28 at the other side of said arm. It will be understood that it does not matter whether the arm and pins 25, 28 are. positioned as illustrated orwhether the arm is turned end for end so as to position the pivot at the lower end instead of at the upper end.

ltwill be obvious that, in operation, the connecter will be attached to the tackle by swinging the arm 26 into open position, after which said arm will be closed and fastened. lien it is desired to secure the hook 3 tothe eye of a tool, the bight of a cable or the like, the operator will take hold of the grip l1 and guide the hook into position to engage the slanting face 10 of the latch with the metal forming the eye or with the bight, as the case may be, thus forcing the latch into position. This may l;e aided by raising the hook with the tackle, not shown. When the eye or bight is once engaged it cannot slip accidentally off of the hook and can only be released by manually opening the latch which is effected by the operator pulling out the grip 11. lVhen the latch has been opened, the connector will be withdrawn from engagement with the tool by continued pulling on the grip 11. The outer wall of the grip slot being curved as it is, and the lugs 16, 17 projecting at the ends of the grip, the grip is protected to a large extent against being broken when the hook is allowed to fall upon a hard surface or is battered against such surface, as frequently happens in the oil fields. Not onlv must too-ls of this type be of massive construction because of the great strains to which they are subjected, but they must be constructed to withstand the rough usage that their massive construction practically entails. The particular construction of latch described above well adapted to remain operative under the rough usage met with in the oil fields.

I claim: i l. A safety connecter for well works com prising a slotted body, a swivel suspension for the body, a latch shiftably mounted in the body and adapted to project into the slot, and a slotted grip on the latch for rotating the body and operating the latch. 2. A safety connecter for well works comprising a slotted body, lugs projecting from the edge of the body, a latch shiftably mounted in the body and adapted to project into the slot, and a slotted grip on the latch partially protected against injury by the lugs, said lugs being at the oppositeends of the grip.

3. A safety connector for well works comcross-bar, a second hook projecting upwardly from one end of the cross-bar, an arm, and pinsconnectmg the opposite ends'of the arm to the upper end of the second hook and to the other end of the cross-bar, one

of the pins being removable to permit the arm to be swung into open posit-ion. V

5. A safety connecter for well works comprising a slotted body having a. chamber rectangular in cross section, a latch having a headof rectangularcross section slidably fitting in the chamber and adapted to project into the slot, and a grip having a finger slot and connected with the latch, the outer wall of the finger slot being arcuate and the ends thereof being adjacent .to' the body. V

6. A safety connecterfor well works comprising a tapered hook provided opposite its tip with a chamber, a latchshiftable in the chamberand adapted to project into the space between the heel and tip of the hook and to the rear face of the heel, said latch having its path of movement normal to the'longitudinal axis of the hook, a spring tohold the latch projected, and a handle on the latchadja-centthe rear face of the heel; I

T. A "safety connecter for well works comprising a cross bar, a hook projecting from one end of the cross bar, means to swivel the cross bar, a pivot supported transversely in the. tip of the hook, an arm swung on said pivot, and means to releas- Ill) ably secure the arm to the cross bar to close the opening between the bar and the tip of the hook. V r

8. A safety connecter for well works comprising a cross bar, a hook'projecting from one end of the cross barand having a slot in its tip, means to swivel the cross bar, a.

pivot supported transverselyin the tip of the hook and extending across the slot, an arm fitting in the slot andswung on said pivot, and means to releasably secure'the arm to the cross bar to close the opening between the bar and tip of the hook. Signed at Tulsa, Oklahoma, this 1st day of October, 1923. I

JAMES P; RATIGAN. 

